Busy Bees Day Nursery at Market Harborough
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Market Harborough is a day nursery in Market Harborough for children aged 0 to 4, with 118 registered places. Ofsted report card, 14 May 2026: Strong standard in 2 areas, Expected standard in 4 areas; safeguarding standards met.
Torch Way, off Northampton Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9HL
Key facts
- Type
- Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 0 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 118 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered
- 22 April 2015 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 14 May 2026
Who runs it
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Market Harborough is run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited (Ofsted register).
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
- Achievement: Expected standard
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
- Leadership and governance: Expected standard
- Safeguarding standards met
Source: Ofsted, inspection on 14 May 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive happily and eager to attend the friendly nursery. They enjoy a warm welcome from the caring staff. This helps children to settle quickly and well to a wide range of activities, indoors and outside. Children demonstrate that they feel safe as they greet visitors confidently. Children take a lead in their own play, following their interests freely. They cooperate well together and learn to share and take turns with resources, guided by the attentive staff. They use good manners, saying 'please' and 'thank you'. Children's smiling faces show that they feel a sense of belonging in the nursery. When children need re-assurance, they seek out staff for hugs and kind words. Children benefit from an effective key-person system with meaningful exchanges of information between staff and parents. This supports children's positive wellbeing and helps parents to understand the importance of punctuality and regular attendance.
Babies and young children delight in joining in with songs and rhymes, clapping their hands happily to the sounds. They snuggle up with staff to listen to their favourite stories. Parents and carers comment that older children bring this love of books into the home. For example, children learn the words and phrases from listening intently to familiar books, and read to their family at bedtime. These frequent experiences of sharing books at nursery help children to learn new and rich vocabulary and to develop early literacy skills. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress from their starting points. Children develop independence and self-care skills. For instance, babies feed themselves using spoons, young children take off their coats and hang them on a peg and pre-school children collect their plates of food and clear the tables after lunch. Children concentrate on tasks. One example of this is when pre-school children look closely at sunflower plants alongside a Van Gogh print and 'have a go' at painting their own version. They talk with staff eagerly about what they see and how they want to create their own painting.
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Expected standard
Leaders ensure that inclusive practice is embedded across the nursery to help reduce any barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. Trained staff swiftly identify children's needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, (SEND) through gathering information from parents and carers, other professionals and their own observations. They work closely with relevant agencies to identify and access specialist support where needed. Staff tailor their teaching to support children facing barriers to their wellbeing. For example, they adapt activities to foster children's understanding of their experiences and the emotions they may feel in response. Routines are accessible to all children, including those with SEND, because staff understand their needs and take actions to enable all children to take part. For instance, they use visual cues and signing to communicate what will happen next. Staff adjust their approach as children progress in partnership with parents and any professionals involved.
Leaders use additional funding effectively to support disadvantaged children. For instance, they provide resources and one-to-one interventions specifically matched to children's needs and interests. They also work with other professionals and families to ensure children known (or previously known) to social care access experiences across the nursery. Leaders ensure that transitions into the nursery, between rooms and for the eventual move onto school are smooth and that children are well-prepared for these changes.
Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
The broad, balanced curriculum focuses on nurturing children's confidence, independence and communication and language skills, in readiness for future learning. Overall, staff get to know children and their interests and plan activities well to promote what they need to know and do next. They adapt activities for different groups of children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning. For instance, staff provide words in languages spoken by children at home to promote their self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Leaders support staff to review their assessments and make any necessary changes to their targets. They understand what children's experiences are like and are clear about the quality of the curriculum.
Typically, staff provide an ongoing commentary for babies' and children's play and introduce new vocabulary, such as 'more', for them to hear and repeat. They introduce mathematical language, including 'tall', 'big' and 'little', when comparing sizes of sunflowers. Children count with staff to identify how many places there are at the painting table and practise their problem- solving skills with support. On occasion, this approach to teaching is not as consistent across the nursery and opportunities for extending and enriching learning are not always as fully explored.
Achievement: Expected standard
Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers to their learning, develop knowledge and skills that prepare them for the next stage of their education overall. Babies and children hear rich vocabulary as they listen joyfully to stories read to them by enthusiastic staff. Older children sing the words of their favourite songs and rhymes, and complete the actions. Babies point to pictures of children's faces in a book, and babble and smile when staff say they are happy. They bounce up and down with delight and clap their hands when they recognise familiar songs. Children generally become confident communicators.
Babies and children enjoy exercise in the fresh air. Children run, jump, balance and climb steps. One example of this is when pre-school children challenge themselves while building a pathway using large wooden blocks by deliberately including a wobbly step to cross. They typically cooperate with their friends, with reminders from staff, and help each other complete the obstacle course safely. Staff encourage babies to become mobile using furniture to support their early steps. Babies excitedly explore open spaces while crawling, encouraged by staff.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
Children consistently show positive attitudes and that they understand staff's high expectations for behaviour. Staff give gentle reminders about boundaries, when needed, such as to toddlers who are learning about sharing and taking turns. They adapt their approach to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are included. For example, they help children to follow instructions by breaking these down into appropriate steps for their stage of development. Staff are effective role models. They show kindness and respect, and offer plenty of praise and encouragement for children's achievements. They provide secure routines that help children feel safe and be clear about what will happen next. For instance, babies toddle towards the nappy changing area with a smile when staff ask if they are ready to be changed, showing their understanding of the routine. Children show patience while they wait calmly for a brief time between activities. They join in willingly with group activities, such as storytelling, and collaborate during their play. Staff are effective role models, and show kindness and respect.
Leaders carefully monitor attendance so that children benefit fully from their experiences at the nursery. From the start, they explain to parents and carers the importance of arriving on time and of notifying the nursery of any absences. They follow up with families and offer support where needed.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
Leaders ensure that practice consistently and positively promotes babies' and children's welfare and wellbeing, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their wellbeing. They continuously improve and share meaningful policies and procedures to underpin this approach. Staff use their in-depth knowledge of children and their families changing needs to inform their planning. The focus on helping children at all ages and stages of development to understand and manage their emotions is highly impactful. Babies look at their faces in a mirror and at illustrations in a board book about facial expressions, while staff talk with them about being happy or sad. Staff use carefully considered strategies, such as introducing puppets, to support children's confidence to express their feelings. They teach children to recognise physical signs of emotions and respond appropriately to these.
Staff promote oral health, using toothbrushes and models of teeth for children to practise their skills. They work with parents to encourage access to dental care. Children learn about making healthy food choices through discussions with staff, such as when they happily eat broccoli at mealtimes. They benefit from nutritional, balanced meals. Toddlers pour water into beakers when they are thirsty. They fill up the jug for their friends when it is empty without being prompted. They are learning about how to take care of themselves and others.
Leadership and governance: Expected standard
Leaders across the organisation reflect together regularly to identify strengths and areas for improvement. They are ambitious for the children in their care and make ongoing plans to enhance the nursery provision, for example, by enriching outdoor experiences even further. They focus the use of additional funding to provide resources that will engage and stimulate children, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Leaders provide coaching and mentoring and regular supervision for staff, with feedback about some ways to improve their practice. They are sensitive to the need for support for staff wellbeing. Staff access learning and development opportunities, according to their interests. The professional development programme is not yet precisely targeted to promote consistently high-quality interactions, regardless of the level of experience of staff. Leaders work closely in partnership with families and provide a 'home-from-home' environment. Parents and carers speak very positively about the nursery and staff. They comment on how well they are supported to ensure that the whole family benefits from the nursery provision. For instance, when their circumstances change, staff go out of their way to adapt care for babies and children, and to include them fully and positively in routines and experiences.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider should:
- Leaders should continue to support staff across the nursery to ensure all children benefit from consistently high-quality interactions.
- Leaders should target staff professional development specifically to enhance the quality of teaching and learning throughout the nursery even further.
Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 14 May 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history
Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)
Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.
The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.
Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.
Source: Ofsted reports
Funded childcare hours in England
All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.
Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.
The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.
Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)
Other nurseries nearby
- Caterpillar Day Nursery Ltd - Day nursery, Market Harborough LE16 9HF, ages 0 to 4, 47 places, under 0.1 milesOfsted, 9 July 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Partou Progress House Day Nursery & Pre-School - Day nursery, Market Harborough LE16 9HF, ages 0 to 4, 56 places, under 0.1 milesOfsted, 4 November 2024: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Market Harborough Montessori Nursery - Day nursery, Market Harborough LE16 9BZ, ages 2 to 4, 30 places, 0.9 milesOfsted, 7 March 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Mini Adventures Preschool Ltd - Day nursery, Market Harborough LE16 7QE, ages 2 to 4, 39 places, 1.1 milesOfsted report card, 30 April 2026: Urgent improvement in 6 areas; safeguarding standards not met
- Little Angels Day Nursery - Day nursery, Market Harborough LE16 9QG, ages 0 to 4, 76 places, 1.1 milesOfsted, 10 January 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
Schools nearby
- Farndon Fields Primary School - Primary, 0.4 miles
- Little Bowden School - Primary, 0.5 miles
- Welland Park Academy - Secondary, 0.7 miles
- St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy - Primary, 1.0 miles
- Market Harborough Church of England Academy - Primary, 1.1 miles
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Market Harborough on the Ofsted website